“The new American finds his challenge and his love in the traffic-choked streets, skies nested in smog, choking with the acids of industry, the screech of rubber and houses leashed in against one another while the town lets wither a time and die.” — John Steinbeck quote on the effects of pollution

Okay, well Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote was really about responsible financial planning, but it can also be interpreted for any type of planning–especially urban planning. Consider this, most people have ideas about what changes they want for their hometowns and how they want their cities. But until those ideas are acted upon, they are basically wishes; once those are acted upon, then they are essentially plans or blueprints or whatever you wish to call them. The latter involves public participation and civic engagement–both tenets of urban planning.